SOLICITATION NOTICE
99 -- Reduce Weather Impact - Observations
- Notice Date
- 12/13/2012
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- Contracting Office
- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, AAQ-630 AJA - Technical Center (Atlantic City, NJ)
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- 12559
- Response Due
- 1/16/2013
- Archive Date
- 1/31/2013
- Point of Contact
- Colleen McLaughlin-Heasty, 609-485-6740
- E-Mail Address
-
colleen.mclaughlin-heasty@faa.gov
(colleen.mclaughlin-heasty@faa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS BEST VIEWED ON THE FAA CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES WEB SITE: HTTPS://FAACO.FAA.GOV. In accordance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acquisition Management System (AMS) Policy 3.2.1.2.1, this announcement is to conduct a Market Survey for the purpose of obtaining information on capabilities, to determine competition, and estimated costs associated with manufacturing a network-enabled Visibility and/or network-enabled Precipitation Liquid Water Equivalent (LWE) prototype sensor. These sensors must be capable of organically supporting network communication without the need for adapters or the like while also meeting the specifications and capabilities identified in this market survey. Background: The surface weather sensor network that provides aviation weather observations to today's National Airspace System (NAS) users is comprised of a collection of independent systems that were fielded over time to satisfy weather observation requirements that have evolved or emerged since the early 1980s. After almost three decades since the first ground-based weather observation automation system was put in service, the observation network is now comprised of several independent observing systems, and independent systems that serve as backups to primary observing systems, whose engineering designs employ point to point communication protocols to proprietary processors that output specific observation parameters. While this approach satisfied the focused requirements associated with each system, an examination of the entire network of capabilities exposes opportunities for greater efficiency and improved observational benefits. For instance, today's observation systems do not easily support either the optimal siting of sensors, the sharing or leveraging of sensor information, or the addition of sensors to support the emergence of new observing requirements without costly and complex hardware and software changes. As the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) initiative leverages net centric communication paradigms, the opportunity exists to examine the modernization of the sensor network to maximize benefit and efficiencies and support legacy and advanced applications. This is NOT a Screening Information Request (SIR) or Request for Proposal (RFP); the FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals. The FAA desires information and documentation regarding the modification of weather sensor design to directly support (without adaptation equipment) network communication protocols. To interface effectively with NextGen net-centric principles, sensor communication technologies must evolve to include secure, network type communication channels. The Government is seeking information from prospective companies/vendors to decide whether or not a weather sensor design that directly supports (without adaptation equipment) network communication protocols can be accomplished. Interested vendors that have the capabilities to meet these requirements should provide sufficient information to describe those items and capabilities in a compelling manner. Submitted documentation must clearly demonstrate that the vendor can meet the following requirements: Sensor Types and Capabilities specifications are as follows: Visibility Sensor - 0 to 10mi minimum accuracy of +/- 10% from 50ft to 5mi and +/- 20% from 5mi to 10mi and a resolution of 50ft Present Weather/Precipitation ID - reports R-, R, R+, S-, S, S+, DZ-, DZ,DZ+, GR, GS Precipitation Liquid Water Equivalent - 30 inch capacity minimum accuracy of +/-.01in and resolution of.001in. Core Capabilities: Prospective companies/vendors must possess knowledge, capabilities, and experience in the following areas: Surface Weather Sensor manufacturing, quality control, certification Deployment and maintenance of weather sensors into the NAS environment Knowledge of FAA weather sensors, weather formats, and the integration of weather sensor information into air traffic management systems Sensor Design Specification: The Sensor Processing and Communications hardware shall support Ethernet and TCP/IP. This type of interface will allow the sensor to communicate directly via modern communications networks without the need for any kind of adapter. The sensor shall provide TCP/IP interface capable of providing both a command Mode and Data Mode communications. Both the command Mode and Data Mode shall be accessed via a unique port number. The Sensor shall provide a separate listener for both the Command and Data Mode, based on the unique port numbers. If the command mode is activated while the data mode is active, the connectivity to the data mode shall be terminated (only one mode shall be active at any one time). Both the command mode and data mode data shall be encapsulated within a TCP/IP frame. In addition to the interface the modified sensor design will also need to supply 48V DC at 100mA in a Power-Over-Internet cable to support operation of the network communications equipment. Electronics enclosures should be rated NEMA 4 or NEMA 4 X. The sensor design and core capabilities provided are intended to provide enough information to the FAA to distinguish if a vendor is capable of providing a sensor that has the configuration that is capable of organically supporting network communication without the need for adapters or the like while still satisfying the sensor requirements. Interested vendors that have the capabilities to manufacture the visibility and/or LWE sensors to meet the requirements should provide sufficient information to describe those items and capabilities in a compelling manner. Submitted documentation must clearly demonstrate that the vendor can produce a visibility and/or LWE sensor specified in this market survey. Submissions provided to the Government must address the following: 1. Capability Statement that addresses the following: a.Engineering feasibility of providing a network interface as specified above. b.Type of services or products provided by your firm that demonstrate ability to perform the services described above. c.Services or products provided under previous contracts to enable the measurement of weather information that are similar in size, scope and complexity to this effort. d.Provide detailed information and past performance information for previous contracts including program title, customer name, project dates, project value, customer point of contact, and description of work performed. 2. Estimated Cost breakout (to be used for budgetary purposes) as follows: a.Prototype Cost for a Visibility and/or LWE sensor b.Non-recurring Engineering Costs c.Overhead/General & Administrative Costs 3. Vendor's ability to provide a prototype Visibility and/or LWE sensor within a 3 month period. 4. Vendor's ability to commence delivery of production of Visibility and/or LWE sensor within 8 months of the FAA's notice to proceed. 5. Completed Business Declaration Form (attached). Include a copy of SBA 8(a) Certification Form and/or proof of service-disabled veteran-owned small business status, if applicable. Only those respondents providing the required documentation and found to meet the requirements in response to this market survey will be considered on any future action taken by the FAA. Therefore, interested companies/vendors who can comply with this announcement are highly encouraged to respond. The principal North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this effort is 334511, Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing, with a size standard of 750 employees. It is the intention of the FAA to utilize non-government advisors, Basic Commerce and Industry (BCI) and Data Transformation Corp (DTC), for the technical evaluation of submissions for this market survey, and any future actions as a result of this announcement, as applicable. All personnel participating in the evaluation will be required to sign Non-Disclosure and Conflict of Interest Agreements. The exclusive responsibility for evaluating the market survey submissions remains with the FAA. Electronic submissions are required. Submissions must not exceed 20 pages total in length (page count is applicable to submissions 1-4 above). The electronic submission should be in either Microsoft WORD format or portable document format (PDF). Please note that the FAA e-mail server restricts file size to 10MB per email message, therefore, responses may have to be submitted in more than one e-mail in order to be received. All Submissions must be received by 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time on Wednesday, January 16, 2013, at Colleen.McLaughlin-Heasty@faa.gov. Submission must include company Point(s) of Contact, telephone number(s), FAX number(s), E-mail address, and mailing address. Questions regarding this market survey may be submitted no later than 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time on Wednesday, January 2, 2013 to Colleen McLaughlin-Heasty, via E-mail to Colleen.McLaughlin-Heasty@faa.gov. The FAA will not pay for any information received or costs incurred in preparing responses to this market survey. Any proprietary information should be so marked. This announcement shall not be construed as a request for proposal or as an obligation on the part of the FAA to acquire these products or services. Responders to this announcement may be asked to provide additional details/information based on their initial response. While registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) database is not required at this time, vendors participating in this market survey are advised that if any future requirement(s) result from this announcement, a vendor must be registered in the SAM's database.
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-
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